You won’t believe the flavors you get from adding pineapple into your chili. We’re making the perfect Caribbean-spiced chili recipe!
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There’s one thing I know from years of watching my mom cook. There’s nothing that can’t be improved by adding some Jamaican inspiration to a dish.
That’s exactly what I did with this Jamaican lentil and pineapple chili recipe. And I’m making it even easier by putting it all in the crockpot so you can easily bring it together and then it’s ready when you’re ready to eat.
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Why You’ll Love this Dish:
- High Protein – Between the lentils and multiple cans of beans, we’re packing in the protein with this chili. Want even more? Try adding in a block of crumbled tofu like we do in our butternut squash chili.
- Big Flavor with Simple Ingredients – All the ingredients in this recipe are found at your local supermarket or are staples you already keep in your home.
- Meal Prep – I love a good meal prep option that doesn’t take a lot of time from the start either. With only a few chopped ingredients needed and then tossing in the crockpot until finished, this is not only great for the start but also great because it will last all week!
Ingredients for Jamaican Red Lentil and Bean Chili
Gather your ingredients!
Pineapple
I know pineapple seems like an unlikely ingredient in chili, but it really helps balance the spicy and smoky components we’re adding. It works similarly to how apples work in our vegan apple chili.
Tip: You can use fresh or canned pineapple for this recipe. We love using pineapple tidbits since it makes it easier to just toss and go and they are already the perfect size.
Red Lentils
Red lentils when cooked low and slow almost melt down. This helps with texture, thickening, and giving a meaty texture to the chili. All while adding protein to our dish.
Substitute: Green or brown lentils will also work for this recipe, but they don’t break down as much as red lentils. Alternatively, you could swap this with more beans, tofu, seitan, mushrooms, cauliflower florets, or peas.
Beans
We are using black beans and kidney beans in this recipe. The balance of size and texture is great for the overall texture of the dish.
Substitute: Any beans will work – cannellini, pinto, or even chickpeas will work here.
Corn
We love the balance the corn gives in chili. You can use fresh or canned corn for this recipe.
Substitute: Carrots, Butternut or acorn squash, fresh cubed pumpkin, or sweet potatoes are all ingredients that will work in place of corn.
Tomatoes
We’re using fire roasted tomatoes to give a bit more smokiness to the overall dish.
Substitute: You can use any diced tomatoes, fresh or canned.
Chipotle Pepper in Adobo
This is where most of our spice and smokiness comes from.
Tip: Since you only need one pepper, you can freeze the remaining peppers in an ice cub tray for later so they don’t go bad before you use again!
Garlic
There’s not a dish that I don’t want to put garlic in. It adds to much depth and flavor to the dish.
Substitute: While it would definitely be different, chives work in place.
Spices
We’re using a combination of fresh herbs, aromatics, and dried spices in order to bring flavor to all aspects of this dish and layer the flavors.
Other Vegan Jamaican Dishes to Try:
🥳 Get the Full Recipe
Caribbean Chili Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 red onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 5 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, minced
- 1 tablespoon adobo sauce
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 ½ teaspoons smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ¼ teaspoon allspice
- ¼ teaspoon salt more or less to taste
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper more or less to taste
- 1 bay leaf
- 15 oz canned kidney beans drained and rinsed
- 15 oz canned black beans drained and rinsed
- 15 oz canned corn drained and rinsed
- 15 oz canned fire roasted tomatoes not drained
- 2 cups pineapple chunks fresh or canned
- 1 ½ cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- ½ cup dry red lentils
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 lime, juiced
Optional Topping Ideas
- Plantain chips
- Avocado
- Vegan sour cream
- Green onions
- red bell pepper, diced
Instructions
- While prepping all your vegetables, preheat your crockpot on high for at least 15 minutes. Once ready, add in your onions, peppers, garlic, and spices. Let this cook for a few minutes until it becomes fragrant.
- Add in everything else except the lime juice. Stir together really well until all the ingredients are well combined. Let cook for 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low.
- Remove the bay leaf and stir in the lime juice. Serve in bowls with any optional toppings or your favorite chili toppings. Enjoy!
Notes
Video
Nutrition
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Frequently Asked Questions
There are no Top 9 Allergens in this dish as written.
This can be stored once cooled in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Yes, you can freeze this chili for up to 3 months once cooled.
A simple salad goes well and then we usually serve a grain of choice – quinoa, brown rice, farro, etc, and/or vegan cornbread.
This was fabulous. I served with avocado, cilantro and plantain chips. I’ll definitely making again. It was delicious the night I made it but next time I would make it a day ahead because the next day the flavors had blended even more and it was even better.
Thank you so much! We’re so glad to hear that you enjoyed the recipe and we appreciate you giving it a try!
Amazing flavorful dish. So glad I came across this website. I will be putting this in my rotation.
Thank you so much! We’re truly appreciate you giving the recipe a try!
At first I turned my nose up to this recipe but I decided to give it a try. Boy am I glad I did. So good. Sweet and savory. This is something we will make again and again. I don’t know how your videos came across my FB but I am glad they did. I’m not even vegan. 🙂
Awww this is awesome thank you! We’re glad you came back to the recipe and gave it a shot. And best of all is hearing how much you enjoyed it! Thank you!
Very easy to make and this chili is Mega yummy!
yay!
This is delicious! And nothing like I’ve had before. The flavors are the star and are a wonderful blend. We added all the fresh toppings as suggested (except I forgot the sour cream) and it was just like a present waiting to be opened:) I’m thankful for you guys bringing such great vegan recipes to our table that ALL of my family enjoy! And saying something:) Keep doing good
I love that everyone is enjoying the recipes!
I really wanted to like this, but I followed the ingredients exactly (as I do when I try a recipe for the 1st time) and I didn’t get a balanced dish. The dish would have too sweet if the spice hadn’t been overwhelming. I felt like it needed more beans for the spice used. It thickened nicely but I think I would use just one can of crushed pineapple in juice and no other juice or pineapple in the dish.
I really enjoyed the lentil and sweet potato (with kale) one pot dish of yours (subbed coconut milk because of a nut allergy). It was well balanced and the spices were right for the ingredients. I will play with it now that I have made it but it was wonderful as is.
I will try a different dish next time. I love your videos, your conception of food, and your tea
Hi Meg. I’m sorry this recipe didn’t turn out how you wanted. I am glad you enjoyed the other. I want to clarify/understand something that I’m not sure if I’m misreading in your comment.
Are you saying that you added 2 cans of pineapple to this chili this time or are you saying next time you’ll just swap what is called for with that can? I just want to make sure you only used 2 cups of pineapple chunks (no juice) in the recipe with 1 cup of pineapple juice.
Holy sh*t! I made this and I cannot begin to tell you how flavorful it is. How do you guys do it? Come up with recipe after recipe, that blows the taste buds out of the universe! You are truly magical people
Thank you so much for this incredible message! We’re thrilled beyond words that you loved the recipe so much. Our team pours a lot of passion and experimentation into every dish, focusing on bold flavors and creative combinations. Hearing that it made such an impact on your taste buds means everything to us. We truly appreciate your support and enthusiasm!